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Book Summary

Reviewed by Mark Nichol

In the mythical land called Middle-earth, distinctly unadventurous Bilbo Baggins is swept up in a quest to recover dwarves' treasure from an evil dragon. The author created this story as a read-aloud for his own children, and the progression of Bilbo's character to that of pivotal figure in an epic conflict shows how much the story grew in the telling.

Is It Any Good?

5

Heroic fantasy succeeds best when the lead character has the most room to grow into hero-hood, and Tolkien gives little Bilbo Baggins a lot of growing to do in this brilliantly written book.

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